Jal'Dana Rall/Background
Early Life (13 BBY–3 ABY) The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Jal’Dana Rall’s life was supposed to be blessed. The idea would be tested many times throughout her life. As the youngest of all the children, she held a special place in her father’s heart, but being from such a large family, she worked nonstop, as did her mother. That left a lot of time to slip through the cracks. It wasn’t that her family was bad, just busy. Her father was a foreman for a mining company on Berchest, her mother a nurse for the same company and with six other siblings, attention was something that was lacking, while freedom was abundant. Always a bit of a tomboy, the lack of supervision instilled a strong sense of self, personal accountability, and resolve in the young woman. Her life was normal for the most part — she attended school, had friends, and knew she wanted to do anything but work in a mine. There had to be something more. At the age of sixteen, during the height of the Galactic Civil War, she went with her older brothers to the Imperial Recruiting Center to join the war. They didn’t tell her she wouldn’t have a shot. Once at the IRC, the Officer in charge turned her away. Not for her age, but because she was a woman. That sexist attitude would set in motion a series of events no one could predict. Academy Years (3 ABY–5 ABY) She had an overwhelming desire to do something, to serve and to help bring about peace. To that end she hatched an elaborate plan, the first step would be to run away. Buying passage on an outbound freighter, she ended up on Corulag, where she used what was left of her meager savings to purchase the best-forged documents she could. Her plan was to keep the lies simple. A fake passport, birth certificate, ID card, and school records. The reason they were so convincing was because, for the most part, they were the truth. Only two fields were changed on the records: Jal’Dana became Jal’Dann, and she assumed the identity of a man. She shaved her head, and wrapped down her female attributes. Armed with her new records, a new look, and a simple device that could disguise her bio signiture, she moved to phase two of her plan. She knew she couldn’t just enlist, she would have to be appointed now, create a background and a history. Lucky for her, there was an Imperial Academy with a military training program formed by the Galactic Empire from older institutions used by planetary defense forces and the Judicial Department. The campus on Corulag was the galaxy's best known and most prestigious. So she enrolled and spent the next two years immersing herself in combat training, history, theory, and doctrine. She left all hopes of a personal life behind, for it was a danger to her cover. What she found instead was that she was a natural pilot, and she devoted herself to the art of flying and making war. Left behind was emotion as she, under the guise of Jal’Dann, became a hardened, cold, and controlled pilot that the Imperial Navy prided themselves in filling the ranks with. During the Academy she always held back. She feared that if she stood out and attracted attention the deceptions and forged documents would come to light. So, not to gain that unwanted attention, she would fake a small mistake. It was not easy, she had to stay in the middle of the pack, never going too far ahead or too far back. She did graduate in the center of her class, a feat which earned her a remote posting to an Outer Rim world. Patrol and Escort Duty (5 ABY–12 ABY) Though daily patrols and escort duty wasn’t exactly what Jal’Dana had in mind when she embarked on this adventure, it proved to be the perfect solution to her problems. Most of the other naval personal was looking to improve their own lots, or end their careers in one piece. No one took too much time to look at the young TIE pilot past if she was doing her job. Free of the constraints that held her back at the Academy, Jal’Dana’s true knack for flying would surface. This allowed her to often be one step ahead. It wasn’t long before Ensign Rall was promoted to Lieutenant JG becoming a feared pilot in the ranks of the TIE Squadron, and earning a reputation with freighter pilots, local smugglers and pirates as a ruthless opponent. Rall would offer no quarter to ships that tried to break a blockade, often aiming fire towards the bridge, to kill the crew but save the cargos. There were times when the whole squadron would be pulled for larger actions. Lt. Rall saw combat in: The battle of Tatooine (6 ABY), flew during the blockade of Sullust (6 ABY), saw action during the second battle of Mutanda (11 ABY), as well as other small engagements but always returned to the rim. Pulling what should have been a routine escort mission, Lt. Rall and her wingman were flying TIE fighters in escort of a convoy of supply ships when a pirate strike force jumped in. The pirate group was made up of two Z-95, and three Y-wing fighters. The rebel’s first run disabled one of the freighters and killed Rall’s wingman. Ordering the two undamaged freighters to jump clear, Jal’Dana engaged the enemy craft. She succeed in shooting down three of the five ships and protected the freighter until Imperial support could arrive. Her own fighter was riddled with scorch marks, but she never withdrew. It was during this exchange that she came to the attention of Captain Belden Mirhoz, who submitted a request and had Rall transferred to the HIMS Inquisitor, the flagship of Task Force Anvil. He promoted her to a full Lieutenant and made her the Executive Officer of Alpha Squadron. Task Force Anvil (12 ABY–13 ABY) As a member of the prestigious Alpha Squadron in Task Force Anvil, the charade of being a man and keeping up her hidden life would put more strain on the pilot. She became more withdrawn, only being visible in briefings, missions, and training flights. It was here she earned the call sign Banshee, a joke among some of the other pilots because they swore if you ever heard Lt. Rall’s voice, you knew someone was going to die. Task Force Anvil would prove very active on the Republicans' front. Now faced with more large-scale action and battles, Rall’s reputation would grow. She gained the status as an Imperial Ace in the Battle of Selene (12 ABY), followed by flying alongside Grand Admiral Danik Kreldin in defense of Kuat Drive yards against the Jedi force of Johanna Siri te Danaan and Luke Skywalker. Task Force Nebula (14 ABY) In 14 ABY, Moff Sekirol broke away from the Empire and attempted to set himself as an independant power. In a bold move, Task Force Nebula was quickly compiled, and struck its first blow against the renegade Moff at Barida. The space battle was hard fought, and during which the commander of Mobius Flight was shot down. Rall assumed command of the squadron and found herself engaged in solo combat against Sekirol's top ace, Captain Amuro Rei. Lieutenant Rall endured a fifteen minute duel, and succeeded in besting Captain Rei, striking a major blow to the moral of Moff Sekirol's TIE groups. It was in that mission she earned a promotion to Lt. Commander, and earned command of one of the new squadrons being formed for new types of tactics. Task Force Hammer: Recon and Intel (14 ABY) When Lightning Squadron was deployed with the cruiser ''Dauntless'', Lt. Commander Rall led it and Lieutenant Seifer Wolf was named as the squadron's XO. Tasked with patrol and recon, the Dauntless and its complement of fighters would see action against Rebel raiders, as well as major action in the retaking of Sullust. Rall would serve with distinction, and Lightning Squadron would become very successful and gain the attention of Admiral Stone. The Imperial admiral promptly transferred the proven TIE pilot to command of the 988th Special Operations battalion. During a classified mission, Lt. Commander Rall was seriously wounded, requiring major medical attention. There would be no way to hide the truth any longer, whether by doctored records or disguised medical scans. Twelve years of service came down to one defining moment, as it was discovered that Jal’Dann Rall was really Jal’Dana Rall, complete with a real file COMPNOR agents were able to reconstruct. She was whisked away to a remote COMPNOR facility for questioning. What occurred during the weeks she spent secluded away in that compound remains classified, and Jal’Dana will not even speak of it to this day. Her loyalty to the New Order remained fast, but she was removed from command of the 988th. Instead, she was remanded to captain of the [[ILC Sentinel|HIMS Sentinel]], a patrol craft, giving her a second chance to prove her worth without a need to hide her past. Sentinel had been outfitted with a single deployable TIE Interceptor (Mk. II variant), christened Viper I, which she utilized for fighter combat. The Sentinel was quite active in its scope of service. It was used to infiltrate shipping lanes, and tag suspect spacecraft, as well as visit many planets to conduct scans and monitor interstellar traffic. The information it gained on its missions proved valuable to the destruction of the Griffon Armada, providing Naval Operations with detailed reports on fleet strength, combat groupings and movements. Under Jal'Dana's command the Sentinel also surveyed the political climate of Coruscant, laying the groundwork for the Imperial blockade of the system. Proven Worth (15 ABY) After mission on top of mission, High Command finally felt that Lt. Commander Rall had proven not only her loyalty but her worth. She was approached by the Warlord Vassily Korolov to undertake a classified mission with him deep in New Republic space. Leaving the ranks, she was to create and assume the identity of Phair Kreiss. Serving as a Senatorial Aide, she helped set the Warlord's plans in motion and served as his eyes and ears. However, she would be grievously wounded in an attempt on Senator Faust's life. The injuires would place the sensitive nature of the mission in jeopardy, and she would be forced to depart Coruscant. Ever the master schemer, Lord Korolov staged Phair's death and used it for political gain. Upon recovering from her injuries back on Selene, Rall was promoted and transferred to command of the [[ICRV Prowler|HIMS Prowler]], a newly refitted corvette ideally suited for a new specialized role. With this new profile, it could house a squadron of TIE Interceptors, and Rall was given command of the unit as well. The battle group would soon join the Imperial Blockade of Coruscant. Splitting time on both the command deck of the corvette and in a fighter, the units under Jal'Dana's command would serve with distinction. When the push was made to reclaim the Imperial Center, Jal'Dana would personally lead the fighter group, made up of; Viper, Lightning, War Horse, Widowmaker squadrons and be assigned with punching a hole in the defenses for the fleet. The operation would be a success inspite of fierce resistance from the New Republic. Task Force Inquisitor With the return of Coruscant into Imperial hands and the Emperor stepping openly onto the Galactic stage once again, Lord Korolov would create and take personal command of a new task force. Ever eagar to fill the void left by the sudden and shocking death of the Grand Admiral, Korolov would promote Lynae Cassius-Caiton to Commodore and select Jal'Dana to be his Military Advisor. This would pit the two women who were rivals already in often direct opposition with the direction of the newly formed task force. Advisor Rall taking on new powers in maters of state, as well as serving as Lord Korolov's voice on Naval Matters. She would return to full service status taking over the Command of the Star Destroyer Inquisitor after the Corellian Crisis in order to give the flagship of the taskforce a more agressive stance. She would be named Second in command of the Taskforce as a whole under Admiral Petra Doom. Later she would take command of all Naval Operations of the battle fleet as Admiral Doom transfered to High Command. At the same time, it was decided for Captain Rall to transfer her command and staff to the Star Destroyer Vindictive, a smaller craft giving the Command of the Flagship to the high profile and more politically astute Moff Laran, for reasons of diplomacy and propaganda. Category:Character subpages